African-American Quilts











African-American Quilts

There is a long tradition of African-American quilting beginning with quilts made by enslaved Africans, both for themselves and for the people who enslaved them. The style of these quilts was determined largely by time period and region, rather than race, and the documented slave-made quilts generally resemble those made by white women in their region. 

After 1865 and the end of slavery in the United States, African-Americans began to develop their own distinctive style of quilting. Harriet Powers, an African American woman born into slavery, made two famous "story quilts" and was one of the many African-American quilters who contributed to the development of quilting in the United States. This style of African-American quilts was categorized by its bright colors, organization in a strip arrangement, and asymmetrical patterns.


The Quilts of Gee's Bend

Gee's Bend is a small, isolated community of African-Americans in southern Alabama with a quilt-making tradition that goes back several generations.
The quilts of Gee's Bend are quilts created by a group of women and their ancestors who live or have lived in the isolated African-American hamlet along the Alabama River.

The quilting tradition can be dated back to the nineteenth century and endures to this day. The residents of Gee's Bend, Alabama, are direct descendants of the enslaved people who worked the cotton plantation established in 1816 by Joseph Gee.

The quilts of Gee's Bend are among the most important African-American visual and cultural contributions to the history of art within the United States. The women of Gee's Bend have gained international attention and acclaim for their artistry, with exhibitions of Gee's Bend quilts held in museums and galleries across the United States and beyond. This recognition has, in turn, brought increased economic opportunities to the community.



Sewing a Quilt -
Gee's Bend, Alabama 1937

Jennie Pettway and another girl with the quilter Jorena Pettway, Gee's Bend 1937





Freedom Quilting Bee

Many of the quilters of Gee’s Bend also participated in the Freedom Quilting Bee. A quilting co-op created by some of the African American women of Wilcox County, Alabama. Some of the founding and influential members include Estelle Witherspoon, Willie Abrams, Lucy Mingo, Minder Pettway Coleman, and Aolar Mosely. The communal nature of the quilting process (and how it can bring together women of varied races and backgrounds) was honored in the series of stamps. Themes of community and storytelling are common themes in African-American quilts.


Mary Lee Bendolph, Loretta Pettway
and Lucy Mingo 2015
















U.S. Postal Service Stamps

The contributions made by Harriet Powers and other quilters of Gee's Bend, Alabama have been recognized by the US Postal Service with a series of stamps. 

In 2006, as part of its American Treasures Series, the U.S. Postal Service issued a set of first-class stamps featuring ten Gee’s Bend quilts made between c. 1940 and 1998, marking the first time work by living artists was included in the series.


Gee's Bend Quilt Stamps















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